a bit of a worry

[puma black ;)]

hey all, been reading through a few posts and im a little worried my puma has a tapping sound from the top of the engine ive been told by a few people its just the hydraulic lifters and by a ford mechanic, from what ive seen in other posts the piston has been hitting the cylinder head ive checked the plugs and there is no signs of the piston hitting the head ive also checked the lifters and they all seem ok, no score marks etc any other ideas what it could be?
does the puma suffer with the hydraulic lifters? i no most fords do lol
i no im probaly panicking and worrying a little to much but i havent got the cash for a new engine if it is the pistons

 

[puma black ;)]

anyone able to help/or any advice????

 

[red]

The tappets? are hydraulic from memory can can get noisy.

I guess it depends how noisy it is as to whether it's a worry or not. But usually not.

 

[andyhyper]

maybe an oil change might help? cheapest option to start with i would say.just make sure its 5w 30.some use fully i use semi skimmed

 

[puma black ;)]

oil was done last momth and the tapps been there for about 4 months, it hasnt got any worse tho and you cant hear it much when the car is cold but as soon as it warms up its pretty bad, i think its the hydraulic lifters now beceause if it was piston slap it would be noisy continusly

 

[madhillbilly17]

have you had different cams fitted?

 

[mix2000]

Have you lost performance?

 

[puma black ;)]

yep its got piper viscous cams, i checked them last week for any visible marks or flat spots but nothing, i think ive lost a bit of performance im not to sure its drinking fuel but i think thats due to a dodgy lambda, i done the wooden block trick last night and the tapp is defo from cyliinder one on the inlet so im pretty damn sure its related to the lifters/tappets,

 

[mix2000]

With performance cams the problem would be definitely highlighted more. Do you get a sharp rattle sometimes on startup? Also with hydraulic tappet problem it should more difficult to start.

 

[puma black ;)]

nope not on start up but i do at low revs between 1500-2000 and the car starts first time every time

 

[mix2000]

This is a last resort before major surgery;

• Do an oil change/filter/oil flush the works
  Add a can of This
  Run for less than 500 miles normally
  Renew oil

If that doesn't work then

 

[puma black ;)]

ive already done all that last month but only run it in the engine for about 100miles, i will have another attempt but leave it a little longer before changing it, im going to buy another head, theres a rebuilt one on ebay thats been slightly ported 175quid bargain :thumbs:

 

[mix2000]

Enjoy!

 

[madhillbilly17]

just thought it could be that it wasnt shimmed right